Spatial Differentiation Characteristics of Groundwater Stress Index and its Relation to Land Use and Subsidence in the V
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Original Paper
Spatial Differentiation Characteristics of Groundwater Stress Index and its Relation to Land Use and Subsidence in the Varamin Plain, Iran Maryam Nayyeri,1 Seyed Abbas Hosseini ,1,3 Saman Javadi,2 and Ahmad Sharafati1 Received 27 April 2020; accepted 22 September 2020
Distributed modeling provides for mapping of spatial and temporal patterns of highly stressed regions, and it offers local solutions to reduce stress in aquifers. In this study, the groundwater stress index (GWSI) is evaluated based on the groundwater footprint index over the Varamin aquifer in Iran. Using ArcGIS software, all necessary layers were produced and then input into the Groundwater Modeling System software to evaluate GWSI. The results show that distributed modeling offers a more accurate assessment of GWSI than water budget analysis. The minimum and maximum values of the GWSI calculated by the distributed model are 2.4 and 1.4 times, respectively, higher than those values obtained in previous studies. Besides, a significant agreement was observed between highly stressed areas and agricultural land use. Furthermore, the results obtained from comparison between stress pattern and land subsidence indicated that only 10% of the area under subsidence was caused by groundwater stress. Applying appropriate scenarios in the future can be useful to reduce water stress and its increasing trend. KEY WORDS: Groundwater footprint index, Groundwater stress index, Distributed modeling, Land use, Land subsidence.
INTRODUCTION Freshwater resources include less than 1% of total water available on the planet (WWAP 2009), among which groundwater resources are the main water supply for agriculture and drinking in arid and semiarid regions (Mahmoudi et al. 2017). Therefore, conservation and management of groundwater resources in these regions are very important for governments. Drought conditions, remarkable demand for freshwater, and lack of water availability 1
Department of Civil Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. 2 Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, College of Abouraihan, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. 3 To whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail: [email protected]
during dry seasons are the main reasons of significant groundwater withdrawal in arid and semiarid regions (Das et al. 2018). Information about magnitude of groundwater withdrawals and precise determination of location-based groundwater potential are useful in understanding, managing, and simulating groundwater systems (Das et al. 2018; Das 2019). In particular, the distinction of groundwater potential zones and significant withdrawals areas can help managers and decision-makers to manage aquifers and reduce groundwater stress in arid and semiarid regions (Das et al. 2017, 2018). The over-exploitation of valuable groundwater resources has lowered the water table depth in recent years, resulting in limitation of the sustainable abstraction of these resources. Among the crucial negative consequenc
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